Illuminated sign.



No. 643,872. Patented Feb. 20, I900.

.c. H. HILL.

ILLUIlNATED SIGN.

(Application filed June 1, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

ll aegfor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES HARRY HILL, OF WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THEPRISMATIC ELECTRIC SIGN COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ILLUMINATED SIGN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,872, dated February20, 1900.

Application filed June 1, 1899. Serial No. 718,991. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLEs HARRY HILL, a citizen of the United States,residing at WVilliamsport, in the county of Lycoming and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Illuminated Sign, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to electrically-illuminated signs, and has forits object to provide a transparent sign in connection with which isarranged a series of electric lamps having different-colored bulbsthrough the medium of which the sign may be varied in color anddifferent combinations of coloring may be secured with a pleasingeffect.

The sign proper consists of a casing of any desired outline having atransparent face or faces upon which lettering is placed either in coloror cut in transparency from a colored background and which letters mayor may not have a border of some color. The result will be that as thedifferent lamps within the casing are illuminated a variety of colorswill appear upon the sign, depending upon the color of the bulb of thelight or lights illuminated and also upon the different colors upon theface or faces of the sign. In connection with this portion of the deviceI employ an automatic circuit-closer for closing the circuits of thedifferent lamps or series of lamps intermittently.

In the drawingsforming a portion of the specification and in which likenumerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several Views,Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a sign connected up with aspring-operated circuit-closer for closing the difierent circuitstherein at specified times. Fig. 2 is a detail View of the sign proper,showing one of the faces removed and including a diagrammaticrepresentation of the circuits therein. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3of Fig. 2. Fig. 4. is a section on line 4: 4 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, 5 represents the rim of a hollow sign,which in this instance is cylindrical and upon the opposite ends ofwhich are arranged covers comprising frames 6 and transparent fillings7, of glass or other suitable material. The cylindrical casing 5 is heldupon an arc-shaped plate 8, the ends of which are turned backwardly andupwardly therefrom and are 11111 tually parallel, as shown at 10, saidparallel portions 10 having alining perforations 11, through which ispassed a supporting-tube 12, the outer end of which has a suitableclosure, such as a ball 13. The tube 12 comprises a T connection 14, thestem of which is in threaded engagement with the plate 8 and'rim 5,through which plate and rim the said stem opens, forminga means ofcommunication between the tube 12 and the inclosure of the casing.

Supported upon suitable insulating-blocks 15 is a series of incandescentlamps equally spaced about the inner periphery of the easing. Theopposite lamps 16 and 17 have bulbs of the same colorin this instancegreen. The opposite lamps 18 and 19 have blue bulbs, the opposite lamps20 and 21 have yellow bulbs, and the opposite lamps 22 and 23 have redbulbs. Thus it will be seen that the lamps within the sign are dividedinto four pairs having similar bulbs and of which the elements areoppositely arranged. 7 5

Passed through the tube 12 and inwardly through the T 14 is a commonreturn-Wire 25, with which the negative terminal of each of the lamps isconnected. Passed also through the tube 12 and T 14 and entering theinclosure of the sign is a wire 26,which is connected directly with thepositive terminals of the oppositely-disposed red lamps 23 and 22, thusconnecting said lamps in multiple arc. A wire 27 is similarly passedinto the casing and is connected with the positive terminals of theyellow lamps 20 and 21, a third wire 28 is passed into the casing and isconnected with the positive terminals of the blue lamps 18 and 19, and afourth wire 29 is connected with the positive terminals of the greenlamps 16 and 17. Thus if a current of electricity be passed through anyof the wires 26, 27, 28, and 29 and returned through wire 25 thecorresponding lamps will be illuminated.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the transparent ends of the casingare suitably lettered, a portion of the lettering being transparent, asshown at 30, upon a translucent ground 31 of some prime color, such asred. 100 The letters 30 have a translucent border 32 of a differentprime color, such as blue.

Other letters, as shown at 33, are opaque upon a transparent ground andhave a translucent border 34 of some fundamental color, such as red.Additional transparent lettering 35, having a translucent yellow border36, are upon an opaque ground 37. Thus as the different couples of lampswithin the casing are illuminated the transparent portions of the 7 signwill show the color of the illuminated lamps, while the translucentportions will show colors or shades resulting from the combination oftheir individual colors and the color of the illuminated lamps. Thus,for instance, if the yellow lamps are illuminated the transparentportion of the sign will show yellow, the blue portion of the sign willshow green, the red portion of the sign will show orange, and the yellowportion will show yellow. This combining of the colors will be continuedthrough each cycle of the operation of the mechanism, it beingunderstood that, if desired, two or more pairs of lamps may besimultaneously illuminated, either continuously throughout their periodsof illumination or through portions of their periods.

In order to intermittently illuminate the different pairs of lamps, Ihave provided an automatic spring-operated circuit-closer includin g acasing 40, in which is located a train of gearing having anoperating-sprin g 41, said train terminating in a shaft 42, upon whichis adjustably fixed a series of arc-shaped contact-plates 43, 44, 45,and 46, all of which are directly connected with the common return 25,leading from the sign and with which connection is made directly withthe metallic supporting-frame 47 of the shaft 42 and accompanyingmechanism In alinement with each of the contact-pieces 43, 44, 45, and46 is a corresponding pivoted lever 48, 49, 50, and 51, respectively,having contact-fingers 52 at their free endswhich are adapted to beengaged successively by their respective areshaped contacts. In order tohold the fingers 52 in the paths of their respective contacts, a helicalspring 53 is connected at one end wit-h each of their levers and at theopposite end with the eye of an adj Listing-bolt 54, passed through asupport 55, the movement of said levers under the influence of thespring 53 being limited by the engagement of the opposite ends of thelevers with the plate 56, upon which they are supported. Each of thelevers has its individual plate 56, which is mounted upon an insulatingblock or base 57, connected with the base of the casing 40, and each ofthese plates has a binding-screw58,ccnnected with its respective wires26, 27, 28, and 29, leading to the lamps within the casing. The contacts43, 44, 45, and 46 are adjustably held upon the shaft 42 through themedium of setscrews 59, passed through their hubs and engaging theshaft, the aggregate lengths of the several arcs being somewhat morethan three hundred and sixty degrees, and said contacts being preferablypositioned so that their 0011- tact-faces slightly overlap, thusmaintaining a constant illumination and a gradual fading from one seriesof lamps to the next. 7 By the adjustable mounting of the contacts upontheir shaft their positions may be varied to accomplish the differentperiods of illumination above referred to. In order to prevent too-rapidmovement of the circuitclosing mechanism, a fan is mounted upon a shaftincluded in said train in the usual manner. Thus it will be seen that ifthe spring 41 be placed under tension it will operate its con nectedtrain to rotate the shaft 42 and successively engage the contactscarried thereby with the fingers 52 on their respective shafts, thussuccessively closing the circuits, including the wires 26, 27, 28, and29, upon a suitable source of electricity 61 through the common return25.

As above intimated, I may employ any desired style of circuit-closingmechanism in connection with the sign, and upon the face of the sign maybe placed Whatever characters I may wish, having any desired arrangementand embracing any color or series of colors; also, I may employ anynumber of lamps for each color and may connect them in any mannerwithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

Upon reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings it will be seen that thebases of the several lamps are mounted directly upon a split ring 70,which is of wood or other insulating material and is attached to theinner periphery of the cylindrical casing 5, intermediate the endsthereof, and is held in place by means of screws passed throughperforations in the casing and into the material of said ring. This ringnot only braces the material of which the casing is formed, but itenables the adjustment of the lamps upon the ring previous to theinsertion of the latter and enables the electrical connections beingmade with efficiency and convenience, it being of course understood thatwhen desired the entire series of lamps maybe simultaneously removed byremoval of said ring.

Various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details ofconstruction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantagesof the invention.

I-Iaving described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination witha sign comprising a casin g having transparent portions of a split ringremovably mounted within the casing, lamps mounted upon the ring andmovable therewith, said lamps having a common return, of circuitsincluding certain of said lamps, and comprising said common return, anda circuit-closer for said circuits comprising a yieldable lever forminga terminal of its circuit, a shaft in circuit with the common returnthrough a source of electricity,

and a series of contacts adjustably mounted upon said shaft and adaptedto intermittently engage their respective levers to complete thecircuits of the latter, substantially as specitied.

2. A sign comprising a casing having transparent portions, a plateconnected with said casing and having rearwardly-extending portionsprovided with alining perforations, a tube passed through saidperforations, and a lateral extension of said tube connected with andopening into the casing and adapted to receive means for energizing theilluminating means within the casing, substantially as specified.

3. A sign, comprising a casing, an insulating split ring removablyarranged Within the casing, a plurality of colored lamps mounted uponsaid ring and removable therewith, a tube rigidly connected with saidcasing and comprising an extension opening into the easing between theends of the ring, and wires connected with said lamps and passed up-Wardly through said tube and its connection with the casing.

4:. A sign comprising a cylindrical casing having end closures,eachconsisting of a frame and a transparent filling, a plurality of lampswithin the casing, an arc-shaped plate secured to the casing and havingbackwardly-bent portions provided With alining perforations,screw-threaded alining perforations in said plate and casing, a Tconnectioniengaging the threads of the last-named perforations, andtube-sections passed through the first-named alining perforations andengaging the T connection and forming a means of access for electriccircuits to the lamps within the easing, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

CHAS. HARRY HILL.

Witnesses:

ROBERT F. ALLEN, W. W. AOHENBACH.

